Two things I ask of you;
do not deny them to me before I die:
Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that I need, or
I shall be full, and deny you, and say,
"Who is the LORD?"
or I shall be poor, and steal,
and profane the name of my God.[1]
…there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we
brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; but if
we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. But those who want to
be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful
desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is
a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have
wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.[2]
Having glossed over an article listing the fifty richest
pastors in the world, I am trying to rationalize the concept of wealthy religious
leaders with the teaching of Jesus. A number of the richest pastors belong to
groups that preach the “prosperity gospel”, I wonder about the motivation of
people who are drawn to the fake promise of wealth. The prosperity of pastors
is never in doubt, but I suspect that their prosperity is not shared with very
many parishioners. I am not surprised by the number of American pastors on the
list, but very surprised at the number of extremely rich pastors Nigeria boasts.
In affluent areas of the US rich pastors may not draw much attention. In
Nigeria a pastor owning two jets and several high-end vehicles is much more of
an oddity when contrasted to the vast number of people in that country who live
in abject poverty. In Africa it is common for government officials to become
very rich at the expense of citizens. Mugabe has bled his country to gain personal
wealth. Citizens of countries impoverished by their leaders can do little,
since elections are rigged and opposition is “muted”. But, when it comes to
choosing which Church you attend, that’s optional. One cannot be forced to
contribute to the obscene wealth of pastors.
The list of the fifty richest pastors does not distinguish
between those who profited directly from being a pastor and those who entered
the ministry already wealthy. Pastors who made their millions from religious
service, might be considered parasites. Tony Robbins, the self-help
practitioner has written books on how to succeed and has become wealthy in the
process. Robbins is authentic and credible because he doesn’t use religion as a
backdrop to his wealth. From what I could find Robbins net worth is about half
that of Brazil’s bishop Macedo. I
don’t mean any insult to Tony Robbins by using him in comparison to lavishly wealthy
pastors. I am wondering where pastors of the prosperity gospel find support for
their doctrine. Maybe, “…give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken
together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give
will be the measure you get back.” I can see this verse being used by
pastors when soliciting support, but it has nothing to do with getting rich.
Peter began to say to him, "Look, we have left everything and
followed you." Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, there is no one who has
left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields,
for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a
hundredfold now in this age--houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and
children, and fields, with persecutions--and in the age to come eternal life. But
many who are first will be last, and the last will be first."[3]
This is used to suggest the policy of a hundred time reward.
From the documentation we have, it seems strange that Paul, when he was going
from church to church asking for money to help victims of the famine in Judea,
never quoted these scriptures to help his cause. It seems to me that being rich
was never seen as a positive feature by Jesus, “Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly
I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again
I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for
someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”[4] The
prosperity gospel is antithetical to the teaching of Jesus, it is absurdly
contradictory to what Jesus taught.
Grouping pastors based on net-worth or earnings tends to
stigmatize everyone on the list. Some on the list have run fowl of the law, but
not the majority by any means. Some were very wealthy before entering the
ministry. Should the message of teachers like Ravi Zacharias or Billy Graham be discarded
since their names are among the wealthy? What should we think of the people who
attend the Living Faith Church headed by Bishop David Oyedepo and wife? His
congregation meets in an auditorium of 50,000 seating capacity? Bishop David
Oyedepo earns US$96,000.00 per week. I have issues with the prosperity gospel, because
I believe it prospers the pastors more than the people. Plus, I do not believe
it is in harmony with Jesus’ teaching.
I need to consider Paul’s remarks and not pass judgment on a
work based on the net-worth of the pastor behind it.
Some proclaim Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. These
proclaim Christ out of love, knowing that I have been put here for the defense
of the gospel; the others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not
sincerely but intending to increase my suffering in my imprisonment. What does
it matter? Just this, that Christ is proclaimed in every way, whether out of
false motives or true; and in that I rejoice.[5]
In the parable of the four soils into which seed was
planted, there is very little credit or discredit given to the person sowing
the seed. The western Church is dominated by the preacher, especially among evangelicals.
The preacher is the guy. If you get a good one the group is very active and
lots of people attend services. If you are unlucky and get a lousy preacher,
membership dwindles. In many cases the preacher sees himself as the king-pin.
Paul suggests that we can put up with lousy preachers, because despite the fact
that they think they are something they are not, when they introduce people to
the word of God they are introducing them to the real power. An astute listener
will discard the preacher’s self-centered rhetoric and accept the word of God.
The true power comes in the word of God, not the preacher’s opinions. Some of
the fifty thousand attendees at the
Living Faith Church, are going to be introduced to God’s word through
the teaching of the very rich bishop David Oyedepo. It might be good to
remember that God gave voice to a donkey to talk to Balaam.[6] At
least one pastor on the list gave a number of years’ salary back to the church.
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on
earth,
where moth and rust destroy,
and where thieves break in and steal.
But store up for yourselves treasures in
heaven,
where neither moth nor rust destroys,
and where thieves do not break in or steal;
for where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also.[7]
Rich
pastors have encumbered themselves with a burden. They are not seen by the
world (authors of articles on rich pastors) as representing Jesus. They have, according to Jesus put themselves
into a difficult situation as far as being in the kingdom of God. Rather
than being praised they should be pitied. The value of their work must not be
ignored because of their wealth, spreading God’s word will have positive
results.
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